Matchbox 8g; De Tomaso Pantera

The De Tomaso Pantera was an Italian supercar made from 1971 to 1991, just over 7,000 of these were made during those 20 years so it was a very exclusive item. The Matchbox 8g Pantera was released in 1975 and remained in the range until 1982, all the core 1-75 releases were white with a blue or unpainted base, seats can be red or orange. Most of them have 'Pantera' stickers on the bonnet & doors with RN8, although the door stickers are not always present. You will also find them with the bonnet stripe and RN6 or 9 (depending upon which way up it is attached) that you also find on the Montiverdi Hai and some other cars, and sometimes with a sun sticker which seems to turn up everywhere - presumably when the factory ran out of the correct stickers.

There is a late release after the model had been deleted in the UK (1981-82), sold in the US only, which is blue with a black base & interior.

It is a relatively easy to find model in any of the colour variations with no real rarities. The best prices are for the ones with the wrong stickers, i.e. not 'Pantera'. Of the Pantera sticker models look for red seats.